What Happened
On August 3, 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued a pre-publication copy of a proposed rulemaking to reissue and modify the Clean Water Act Section 404 (Section 404) Nationwide Permits (NWPs) roughly 2 years ahead of schedule. The proposed rulemaking would be subject to a 60-day comment period following publication in the Federal Register. Based on the current timing, SWCA anticipates that the proposed NWPs will be included in the Federal Register in the coming months, with implementation occurring in late 2020 or 2021.
Read more in the full Regulatory Alert.
Why It Matters
NWPs are issued and maintained by the USACE to provide Section 404 authorization for projects which discharge fill into waters of the U.S., and which have no more than minimal individual or cumulative adverse environmental effects.
SWCA Lens
SWCA will continue to monitor this development and will provide updates when the proposed NWPs are published in the Federal Register. Additional details and legal considerations are provided in this article published in The National Law Review.
SWCA encourages clients to participate in the comment period as a way to voice support, concerns, and perspectives that apply to your work.
If you have any questions about this regulatory development or would like to discuss SWCA’s ability to facilitate the preparation of comments to the proposed…
